Last Friday my beloved finally had time to take me to the DMV for my Driver's Learner Permit. It was a little nerve-wracking, as I was used to the must more difficult British system. Everyone at the DMV office was very nice and friendly, which helped to ease some of my stress. I was surprised at how easy the theory test was, having sat and passed the British one. So now I can finally get on with learning to drive on the other side of the road.
It was a busy weekend, so it was Tuesday before we managed to have my name added to the insurance. After work on Tuesday my darling husband, who used to train racing car drivers, took me for my first go at left hand driving. We went to a new neighbourhood development, so far there are roads etc, but no houses. It was the perfect spot for some basics. It was easier than my sweetheart thought it would be, but more difficult than I thought. We have a pick-up truck. It has to be at least twice as big as anything else I've ever driven before. Staying in the centre of the road was not easy at first, I kept driving too close to the sidewalk. Then using my right hand for the gear stick was another complication. I've always driven mannual gears, but using a left foot and left hand combination. I know that it'll just take a little retraining to become as comfortable changing gears with my right hand, as it once was with my left. Yet the one thing that made me most nervous was driving without "L" plates. Noone on the roads will know I'm a learner here and I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.
As I get ready for another go at driving this evening I am reminded that there are times our spiritual growth mirrors my relearning to drive. This is especially true when we first get saved. We have learned how to do things the world's way, and now we have to relearn so we can now do it God's way. We have to fight against our natural instinct, or learned behaviour/thoughts/attitudes, and really concentrate until we have repeated the process often enough that it finally becomes a part of our new nature. I'm not going to overcome my old driving tendancies in just a few hours. It will probably take a few months of regular and consistant practice. In the same way spiritual maturity is a repeated process, done over and over, that takes a long time.
Where ever you are in your walk to maturity, remember it's the little and consistent that will get you there in the end.
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